How “MAKE YOUR FIRST DRAFT BETTER” will help you
Do you see the double meaning? Your FIRST drafts will be better when you know what you’ll be looking for when it’s time to revise. And, of course, revising means making those important next drafts really sing. What mistakes can you avoid as you start writing? What do you look for during the revision process? Is there a system to make it easier?
There is, and I’ll share it with you. We’ll discuss the issue of revision on both a “Big Picture” and “Little Detail” level. You can use this knowledge to make your early drafts easier to revise! My goal is to show you how to REALLY revise, which means looking at every level of your writing, from overall plot to story structure to chapter level, paragraph level, and word choice. This is how you turn a so-so book into a page-turner.
What You’ll Learn
- The difference between revising and “fiddling around the edges.”
- How to read like a writer and spot the bad habits that hold you back.
- Why getting emotional distance from your writing is so important.
- When it’s time (and what it means) to “Kill your Darlings.”
- How an editing checklist can help you tackle revisions.
- How to choose your words and revise sentences, paragraphs, and chapters.
What We’ll Do in the Workshop
- Define the Big Picture and Little Picture issues of revision
- Practice revising sentences and paragraphs
- Discuss the structure/arc of a story
- Complete focused writing prompts to practice new skills
Who Should Attend
- Writers who are just beginning to write a story and want to get off to a better start.
- Writers with a finished or nearly finished draft
- Fiction and Non-Fiction writers
- Inexperienced writers
- Experienced writers who are open to new twists on what they may already know.
BONUS OFFER
- You can email your prompts to Myra for personal feedback at no cost or obligation.
About Myra
Myra Levine is on a mission: To make sure that nobody dies with their story still inside them. She shows writers how to turn their lives, experiences, and areas of expertise into memoirs and novels. She teaches writing techniques not taught in school. And her classes are FUN.
Writing isn’t about knowing where to put the commas; it’s about capturing a moment and bringing it to life. As a writing coach, Myra challenges her clients to master the tools of fiction, like point of view, dialog, setting, and character development to bring their fiction to a higher level AND to write unforgettable memoirs. The germ of an idea can become a great story, or a dozen great stories, or a terrific novel—and a coach can cut years of frustration from the job of writing a great book.
Before turning to fiction and publishing two novels, Myra spent decades writing television and radio scripts, instructional videos, and corporate marketing programs. She won many local and regional advertising awards before leaving corporate life to become a wife and mother of two adopted kids. Stay-at-home motherhood rekindled her ambition to write fiction.
As Myra puts it, “If you turn the truth into fiction, you’re less likely to get sued.”
Her live seminars attract writers from all over the world.
Written under the name M.E. Levine, Myra’s novels, Revenge of the Soccer Moms and The Dead Mothers’ Club, are available on Amazon.com (print & e-book) and Audible.com (audiobook).